


Paper Faces on Parade

by lanadelraywood



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, im mad jealous, literally they got masquerades every week, masquerade au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 03:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3554765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanadelraywood/pseuds/lanadelraywood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan and Ray keep meeting at masquerades, faces obscured by fancy pieces of paper and ribbon. So, if they were to meet in a normal setting, would they be able to name the face?<br/>((I'm sorry for trying to put in so many Phantom Of The Opera references but it's 12.24 AM and this is about masquerades, can you really blame me?))</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Faces on Parade

The first time they met each other was nearly six months ago. It was a rather cheap masquerade, but it was a masquerade nonetheless and neither could resist. It proved rather disappointing, and as Ray was readying to leave, he felt eyes on him across the room.

A man in an intricate mask made to look like a skull was looking directly at him. Their eyes met and some sort of understanding passed through them. Something that encompassed, "This sucks, but your mask looks interesting and so do you so why don't we make the most of it?" all in one look.

Ray nodded, glad he'd had his mask custom made so that it didn't slip. It was white with a black trim, sides pointing straight up. Nothing extremely intricate, but Ray loved it all the same. 

In unison, they began walking towards each other like some unseen force was pulling them towards each other. They met as the music swelled and hands went to shoulders and around waists and they danced like they had been dancing together since before time. The other guests at the party stepped to the side, watching with rapt attention as the two moved together, more in sync than even the married couples.

Ray felt exhilarated. No one he'd ever danced with had been as good as the man in the skull mask. They hadn't said a word to each other but they seemed to know exactly how the other was going to move and just how to compensate. 

Just as Ray was thinking that this might be the greatest dance of his life, the song ended and the man in the skull mask let go off him and was stepping back. 

"Wait--" Ray started to say but then the crowd was surging back to the dance floor and their eye contact was broken. Ray searched in vain for half an hour before giving up and going home. 

The second time they met was scarcely a month later, at a higher caliber party. Ryan was totally not on purpose standing off to the side in the shadows when he caught a glimpse of a certain mask in the crowd. It didn't take him long to realise that it was the man he'd danced with weeks prior. 

He moved immediately, making his way through the crowd. Ryan tapped the man on the shoulder and he turned, eyes widening behind his mask as he recognised the skull faced man before him. He smiled widely, and Ryan returned it. He offered his hand and Ray accepted it gladly.

And they danced. Just as before, they danced as if they'd been made to dance together. 

The song was over before Ryan knew it and he made to step back, walk away, and disappear as he had last time but Ray hadn't let go of his hand yet.

"Why only one dance?" Ray asked, and it was quiet but Ryan didn't even hear the music. The man in the black and white mask was the centre of Ryan's attention. 

But Ryan didn't have an answer, so he didn't give one. He only smiled again and pulled his hand gently out of the other's grasp. He stepped backward slightly, and Ray nodded. They turned at the same time and parted ways. 

Ray didn't look back, not this time.

But Ryan did. 

The third time they met was in a grocery store, and there were no fancy dressed people attending a beautifully decorated hall to have a hidden dance. 

It was completely by chance that they met, of course, just as it had been previously. Ray was looking in the frozen section, debating on which pizza to get and Ryan wasn't looking where he was going. He just wanted some damn yogurt.

Ray decided, finally, on a pepperoni. His usual. No point in breaking routine now, right? He dropped the box into the shopping cart and began pushing it forward when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of the pocket in his hoodie and kept moving forward slowly as he read the text from Gavin. 

Ryan was looking for a particular brand of yogurt and he too was moving forward slowly, almost comically so. Neither of them noticed the other and anyone watching wouldn't even stop them because the scene that was unfolding was, truly, quite amusing.

Imagine, if you will, a bird's eye view of the scene. Two shopping carts, one in the middle of the aisle and one on the end, pushing towards each other slowly but surely, destined to have the least dramatic crash in all of history. 

And inevitably, crash they did. Crash is far too loud a word. They bumped into each other, and both of them looked up, startled. They pulled their carts back hurriedly, muttering apologies. 

They made eye contact for the briefest of seconds and both of them were bombarded with flashbacks to the two nights they'd shared previously, memories flashing across their thoughts like the lights of the masquerades. The music, the brightness, the outfits, the masks, the hands on necks, around waists, tangled in hair.

The dancing. 

They both stopped short, staring at each other. The man in the skull mask stared at the man with the white mask boring a black trim. Unmasked. 

For a few moments they just stared at each other. Those eyes were unmistakable. Of all facial features, they knew each other's eyes the best because they were not obstructed by the mask. 

"Uh," Ray said finally, if only to break the silence - only it wasn't really silent, because the grocery store was very loud and very full of people. It seems that crowds didn't faze these two, not when the other was around.

"Hi," Ryan said slowly, still recovering from the initial shock. 

"I'm Ray."

"Ryan."

"Nice to... see you again?" 

Ryan smiled, and Ray knew from the way those blue eyes crinkled that he was not mistaken.

"Nice to see you too, Ray."


End file.
